Sandeep is out with a fractured finger.
In a fresh blow for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), key pacer Sandeep Sharma has been ruled out for the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) with a fractured finger. He suffered the injury during the match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) where he tried to stop a straight drive from Shubman Gill of his own bowling. The news was confirmed via an official release on the Royals website.
Sandeep played 10 matches this season, picking up nine wickets with a best bowling figure of 2/21.
It is now understood that in Sandeep’s absence, the inaugural IPL winners have decided to bring back a former star in Nandre Burger.
Notably, Burger has plied his trade with RR last season, where he picked up seven wickets in six matches.
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The Sanju Samson-led side are already out of the IPL 2025 playoffs race as they currently languish in the bottom half of the table at ninth with just three wins in 12 games.
Thus, the RR management has shifted its focus to building a squad for the future. Apart from Burger, they also announced the signing of another Proteas talent, 19-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
Pretorius comes in as a replacement for Nitish Rana, who has been ruled out with a calf injury. Rana, who was signed for INR 4.20 crore at the IPL 2025 auction, scored 217 runs in 11 innings this season at an average of 21.70 and a strike rate of 161.94, including two half-centuries.
It remains to be seen if the duo of Burger and Pretorius get any game time this season. RR have two more matches left- against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 12 and Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 16.
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